Struggling with calories

Tklion
Tklion Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I usually meal prep and when I don’t still have my meals planned out. I’m struggling to consume over 1100 calories per day. I’m always satisfied after eating just concerned about not eating enough having adverse health reactions. I eat twice a day and practice inttermentant fasting. I’m hitting or getting close to hitting my macros most days just want to make sure I’m healthy while doing so. I’m 5 10’, 186lbs and workout 3 times a week with some cardio. Currently at 21% body fat.
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Replies

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    1100 a day is not enough for an adult male. Why do you feel like you need to do intermittent fasting? If you don't have enough appetite to eat enough during the rest of the day, I would not recommend that. What does your average food intake during a day look like?
  • Tklion
    Tklion Posts: 15 Member
    Some days I’m able to hit close to 1300
  • Tklion
    Tklion Posts: 15 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    You’re not eating enough calories to sustain a toddler, let alone a grown man. Especially a grown man who is also increasing their calorie expenditure by working out.

    You could easily up your intake to a reasonable level (minimum 1500 calories net for a male adult) by including some more calorie dense foods into your diet.

    Continuing to eat at that level of intake will eventually catch up with you, and it won’t be pleasant.

    Thanks for the help, I’ve been struggling with this and just afraid to add to many bad calories and not continue to loose fat. I am going to work on this a lot better than I already have.
  • Tklion
    Tklion Posts: 15 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Swap out the egg whites for whole eggs and put some butter or olive oil on those veggies. Doesn't sound like you're getting an adequate amount of fat.

    Thanks, I did consider whole eggs but was concerned about too much cholesterol.
  • Tklion
    Tklion Posts: 15 Member
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    Egg yolks got a bit of a bad reputation several years back. But there is more knowledge now. If cholesterol is s concern, the American Heart Association has some nutrition guidelines in their website. I believe they are recommending DASH diet for hypertension and for cholesterol. I found it useful to take the calorie breakdown myfitnesspal gave me and look at the recommended number of food group servings from DASH that lines up with my calorie goal.

    Thanks Emma,

    As far as my hypertension goes my doctor said it was “self cured” by quitting smoking and the unhealthy eating. I went from 145/100 on average to an average of 118/65. However, I do still keep an eye on my sodium intake.
  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    Add some more meats like beef/steak, pork, salmon... lean turkey is great but I’d add those to more variety. Also add avocado to salads or wraps to give you more calories and fat. Consider adding more fruits and nuts.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    As others have said, you really need to be eating more, especially fat. I'd also like to add that maybe you need to sharpen up the accuracy of your logging as you could potentially be eating more than you think you are without realising it (for the sake of your health I truly hope so anyway).
    Put your stats into MFP with a weight loss of 1 pound a week. With a set of kitchen scales weigh all of your food, including food which is already prepackaged as these foods can weigh more than indicated on the label. Reserve measuring cup and spoons for liquids only. When choosing the entry to log verify its accuracy against places like the USDA database of the nutritional label on the food packaging.
    Make sure you are eating the number of calories given to you. Being under or over is ok if you keep an eye out on your weekly average instead.
  • Dilvish
    Dilvish Posts: 398 Member
    Tklion wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Swap out the egg whites for whole eggs and put some butter or olive oil on those veggies. Doesn't sound like you're getting an adequate amount of fat.

    Thanks, I did consider whole eggs but was concerned about too much cholesterol.

    Eggs get a bad rap. too much cholesterol is a myth when it comes to eggs because in the past they forgot to recognize that traditionally eggs were eaten with high carb (pancakes, hash browns etc.) and fatty (bacon, ham, steak etc.) foods and that is where the bad cholesterol comes into play.

    Eggs by themselves (free range or organic) are incredibly nutritious and most people are safe to eat 3 a day as long as they are not combined with the bad foods like saturated fat.

    Healthy fats like in eggs, olive oil, nuts and seeds etc. are essential for overall good health too so cutting these types of fats in an already restricted diet can lead to health issues.

    And finally I would scrap protein powders in favor of actual protein from foods. An example is pumpkin seeds...a 1/3 of a cup has a whopping 17 grams of protein...mixed with 3/4 of a cup low fat plain greek yogurt and you can have a lot of protein in one meal (upwards of 38 grams). Throw in some fruit (any type of berry) and you are golden.

    I also agree that at your age and weight 1100 calories a day is insane...you need to up it or your body will start burning muscle for fuel....very bad indeed.

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